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Sixteen Strong Years
Sixteen Strong Years is the 7th special. It aired on June 12, 2018. Plot In 1999, a CSX SD80MAC known as Paul arrives on the CSX following the Conrail split. He is introduced to a CSX SD40-2 named Daniel and a CSX GP38-2 named Kenny. The three engines are assigned to take a coal train to Newport News, VA. On the way, Paul explains what his life was like prior to the split and states how he misses his siblings. Paul does a fine job getting the train to Newports News, which impresses Kenny and Daniel. In 2003, Paul is leading a grain train when before he knows it, he comes to a halt and stalls on the mainline, leading to Daniel coming to his rescue. It turns out that Paul ran out of fuel. Paul feels bad about it, but Daniel tells him not to worry about it. Daniel is assigned to take Q302 to Richmond, VA that night. Four months later, Paul and Daniel haul a manifest out of Dante Yard. Paul is confident, as he refueled before he left. Their journey goes smoothly until Paul has to stop. Feeling that he was working himself too hard, he stops to cool down before continuing on. Two years later, Paul returns to the yard with a new coat of paint. He reveals that he was recently repainted into the YN3 scheme. Waidy "congratulates him for becoming an official CSX locomotive", but Kenny tells him off. Daniel reassures Paul that he has fresh paint at least. Six days later, Paul is working with Cleveland on a coal drag when Paul shows how much power he has and handles the train well. Cleveland is impressed. When the manager hears about this, he is also impressed, and sends Paul to work on Sandpatch Grade to assist the SD50s. When Paul arrives, his first train to assist over the hill is led by Jaleel, Rosalina, and Jack. Paul works hard helping other trains for the rest of the day before Nathan arrives with a massive coal drag. Paul reveals that Carter warned him earlier to stay away from Nathan, which Nathan is upset about. He then decides to ditch his work and trick Paul into taking his train the rest of the way. Despite Paul's size, he finds the train to be rather heavy and eventually stalls on the hill. Carter is soon sent to help. Two days later, Nathan's scheme was exposed, and the Cumberland Yardmaster punishes him by having him work with Paul on his last day. Two years later, Paul is renumbered 4599 to make room for new CSX GEVOs that will be using the 800 number series. This makes it hard for other engines to recognize Paul at first. A year later, however, as Daniel is switching, he sees the new CSX ES44AC numbered 809 pass by, and realizes why Paul was renumbered. Two months afterward, Paul is trailing on Trey's coal train when Paul's energy runs out (prompting Trey's conductor to scramble over to Paul's cab and shut him down). Trey attempts to pull alone, but it is hard with Paul not assisting. Waidy is eventually sent to the rescue, where he teases Trey in the process. In 2011, Paul is sitting at Industrial Wasteland where he meets Mr. Dunn and Mr. Soldan for the first time. As they give him his orders, Paul gets distracted by a passing NS train with a trailing SD80MAC, recognizing it as one of his brothers. The controllers repeat Paul's orders, having him pull a manifest with Brian. As Paul and Brian leave, Dave and Larry pass by with another train, surprised at how quickly Paul was able to get it moving. Larry decides to challenge Paul. One day when the two engines are assigned to take a coal train, Larry challenges Paul to see who can use less fuel. When they pull into Dante for a crew change, they compare fuel tanks, where they find that Larry used less fuel, much to Paul's dismay. Five days later, Daniel restores Paul's confidence by telling him how useful he is and how he can handle any assignment. Paul puts this into play two years later, when he helps Daniel, Cleveland, and Dark Dream over a hill. Daniel, Andy, and John, praise him the following day. In 2014, however, the road begins to get rocky. News comes around that CSX has plans to give the SD80MACs away to NS. Paul is put on a trial test, where he must pull a train over Sandpatch Grade. Jared and Rhyon are in charge of watching his performance. Meanwhile at the other end of the yard, Dave, Larry, and Adam form a devious plan to add more cars to Paul's train, determined to make him fail so that he can leave the roster sooner. Paul begins to pull the train, with Jared and Rhyon following behind, but the weight gets too much for him when he climbs the hill. Jared and Rhyon tell him that he failed. But Paul, determined not to give up, struggles on, overworking his engine and blowing clouds of smoke into the air, until his engine finally gives out. Jared and Rhyon are upset, and leave. Along the way, they run across Daniel, who is upset about how they treated Paul. The NS engines don't understand why they still respect Paul after all the trouble he's had, but Daniel (along with Kenny) reveal that he has more friends than they think by helping Paul over the hill. Two months later, Paul is repaired and leading a freight train into Connellsville Yard. There, he overhears some engines discussing the SD80MAC retirements. This brings Paul down drastically. Some days later, Daniel is discussing Paul's depression with Waluigi, then Daniel talks to Paul. Paul is in disbelief that he's being retired so soon, as he's been doing good for a while. Daniel explains that the news has been going around. He also advises Paul to make the most of the rest of the time he is with CSX. Paul does so until 2015, when he is officially retired. When Daniel and Kenny find out that Paul is gone, they make an attempt to rescue him. They teleport themselves to Altoona, where they discover that Paul was moved elsewhere. Jared, believing they would show up, shows Daniel and Kenny where Paul is. When they see Paul in NS paint, they find it hard to believe at first that it is really Paul. But when they realize that it is Paul and that they can't do anything about him being sold, they decide to accept it and move forward. Later that year, Daniel and Kenny are relocated when the Clinchfield route was mostly abandoned. Paul is now enjoying his new life on NS, and would keep in touch with Daniel and Kenny, before the latter's email was hacked. Characters * Paul (CSX) * Daniel (CSX) * Kenny * Jaleel * Waidy * Cleveland * Carter * Rosalina * Nathan * Warrior * Josh * John * Darin * Trey * Mr. Dunn * Mr. Soldan * Brian * Dave * Larry * Dark Dream * Andy * Chris * Jared * Rhyon * Adam * Waluigi * Trey * Tiffany * Ben (CSX) * Nicholas * Lilim * Ely * Theseus * Matt * Freddy * Wario * Ash * Lenny * Shawn * Chuck * CSX C30-7 #7048 (not named) * Miller Yardmaster (not named) * Nathan's engineer (not named) * Cumberland Yardmaster (not named) * Trey's engineer (not named) * Trey's conductor (not named) * Waidy's engineer (not named) * Larry's engineer (not named) * CSX ES44AH #3037 (not named) * CSX GP40-2 #6226 (not named) * CSX C40-8W #7350 (not named) * NS GP38-2 #5293 (not named) * Jack (does not speak) * Mitchell (not named; does not speak) * Dakota (does not speak) * Holmes (cameo) * Jerome (cameo) * Hes0305 (cameo) * Umit (cameo) * Justin (Amtrak) (cameo) * Momoka (cameo) * Quips (cameo) * Jaden (as a Conrail unit; cameo) * Mort (cameo) * Daisy (cameo) * Kaiba (cameo) * Mike (as a UP unit; cameo) * Heather (cameo) * Cure Dream (mentioned) * Tannen (mentioned) Locations * Clinchfield Route * CSX Peninsula Subdivision * Richmond * CSX Keystone Subdivision * CSX Henderson Subdivision * Industrial Wasteland * CSX Saginaw Subdivision * Highland Valley * Norfolk, VA * CSX A Line * Northeast Corridor * Altoona * Tidewater * Springfield Industrial * Conrail NJT * Detroit Connecting Trivia * This special marks the first of a few things: ** First special of Season 4. ** First special since Tale of a J Class to focus mostly on a different location with different characters. ** First appearances of John, Holmes, and Hes. ** Jaleel, Chris, and Theseus' first speaking roles. ** Railfan Center joins the cast. ** First Rails of Highland Valley related video where a non-YouTuber has a voice role. ** Carter's first speaking role since Difficult Planning. ** First special to use text to explain what happened afterward. * This film has a bit in common with dajara521's Trainz film, Gentle Giant, though it wasn't a direct inspiration. * This special takes place on ex-Clinchfield/C&O rails. * When Daniel says "you'll see them again someday", it is foreshadowing the end of the film. * Nathan telling Paul that he's as strong as two engines and Paul replying that he didn't say he couldn't handle it is a reference to the TUGS episode, "Warrior". * Waidy teasing Trey about stalling and later helping him is a reference to the Thomas and Friends episode, "Percy, James, and the Fruitful Day". * Second time Eurobeat is used in Rails of Highland Valley. * The "Thomas Rice Special" unit makes a cameo appearance when Larry and Paul arrive in Dante Yard. * All three CSX SD70ACes with speaking roles (Darin, Waluigi, and Warrior) all have two lines each. * This is the third special to use footage on the credits, after Run to Revenge and Tale of a J Class. * As of 2019, the video is no longer viewable. Goofs * Lag is encountered when Daniel, Kenny, and Paul depart with their train. * Paul and a couple unrepainted ex-CR units' patches have the wrong numbering font and are missing the small CSX logo under the cab windows. * The CSX ES44AH #809 has a lightning bolt under the cab windows. * In some scenes of Paul blowing smoke, Jared and Rhyon disappear. * In the first transition scene between Matt and Freddy, the screen turns black for a second. * When Daniel talks to Paul for the last time, his engine keeps idling down. Special Category:Specials Category:Season 4 Category:Specials reused from the creator’s draft series Category:Specials inspired by other work Category:Specials not split into parts